to add weird, funny questions and doing it in a scientific way, led to the polling of the favorability rating of congress. they asked people to rate congress alongside 26 other things, congress versus roaches, congress won. head lice, it won big. and std's, turning out to do better. good job, congress, and congress is almost as popular as brussel sprouts, which i love. they tested congress against root canals, against being stuck in traffic. and carnies, who are more popular. and also the canadian rock band, nickel back, what does it tell you about congress? exactly what you think it does. but having scientific polling from a job who loves it job to

do it this way, it is time for the best thing in the world. enough to do its job this way is the best new thing in the world today. "first look" is up next. good wednesday morning. right now on "first look," hospitals take extreme measures as emergency rooms across the country are overwhelmed by the severe flu outbreak. it's official, 2012 was the warmest year on record in the lower 48 states. plus, devastating wildfires in australia. gay marriage in washington's national cathedral. and the most expensive pasta you'll ever eat. good morning, i'm ma. i'm mara schiavocampo. if it seems like everyone around you is sick, there's a reason. right now, we're facing one of the worst flu seasons in decades with a virus widespread in two-thirds of the country. hospitals from coast to coast are being swamped with patients and chicago has gotten so bad, seven hospitals have closed their emergency departments diverting patients. and in pennsylvania they're triaging patients in parking lot tents.

earlier nbc news correspondent dr. nancy snyderman visited st. john's hospital in the bronx where they almost have more patients than they can handle. >> reporter: what's the status today? >> well, right now, compared to last year at this time, we've seen three times as many flu patients as we've seen all of last year. >> reporter: is it fair to say you're overflowed? >> i'd say, yes, head overflow. >> officials say the outbreak likely hasn't peaked and we're not halfway through the flu season. doctors are reminding people that getting a flu shot is the best prevention. today, the debate over what to do about gun violence continues in washington with the launch of vice president's biden's task force on the controversial issue. yesterday, former congresswoman gabrielle giffords marked the two-year anniversary of the shooting which she narrowly survived by joining the call for more action.

nbc's tracie potts joins us with the details. good morning. >> reporter: mara, good morning. even though giffords ispossessea gun, she wants stricter gun laws. mark kelly will be here today as vice president biden goes out on front in this one. tomorrow t the white house has already testified that it wants to push for an assault weapons ban and limbs on ammunition, they say they want to hear both sides of this. later in the week, other cabinet members are hearing from parents, teachers, mental health professionals. the white house says it wants a controversial new approach. on capitol hill, is the momentum fading after the connecticut school shootings? the top republican in the senate

said it would be spring before they take up legislation before they deal with gun control because the debt and spending must come first. while advocates are trying to put the pressure on, still questions about how this will get done on capitol hill. last night "ed show host" asked barbara boxer if people are now more willing to change gun laws. >> i believe we will be able to get some things done. maybe it's the high-capacity clips, maybe it's senator feinstein's bill. i certainly hope so. we need to close the gun show loophole. there are certain things the obama administration could do on the mental health front and enforcing existing laws when it comes to tracking guns through the computer system, that was set up we have to come together. i think it's one of those enough is enough moments. don't miss "the ed show"

weeknights at 8:00 eastern on msnbc, the place for politics. as president obama prepares for a visit by afghan president hamid karzai, the white house said for the first time it's possible that no american troops will remain in afghanistan after 2014. a so-called zero option that would remove all u.s. troops by the end of next year would be be considered according to deputy security adviser benjamin rhodes. "the washington posts" some are pushing for and arguing that a smaller force would be the best way to end the costly unpopular war. a military judge has refused to toss out charges against army private bradley manning who is accused of providing classified documents to wikileaks, but she is reducing any prison sentence that he may receive. the trial is set for march 6th. the judge says the former u.s. marine was objected to excessive pretrial confinement. 120 days will be removed from

manning's sentence which could be as much as life in prison. more turbulence for boeing's dreamliner 787 airplane. tuesday at boston's logan airport, a fuel leak on a 787 forred it to cancel takeoff and return to the gate. one day later, a different plane also at logan caught fire. s it was empty at the time. just this morning, an al nippon flight in japan was canceled because of problems with its brake lines. united airlines, the only american airier to operate the dreamliner said it has ordered inspections of all of its 787s. aviation experts say these are to the serious problems given the high-tech plane but they warned it could still undermine consumer confidence. the government is calling for an urgent review of the nation's arctic offshore drilling practices in the wake of series of missteps involving the shell oil company. this week's grounding of a shell

oil rig is just the late northwest a string of blunders and accidents involving the company's ships and support equipment. the 60-day assessment could halt or scale back plans to open alaska's arctic waters to oil exploration. some sobering news from the national oceanic and atmospheric administration in its annual climate report. noaa said that 2012 was the hottest year on record in the lower 48 states with an average temperature of 55.3 degrees. that shattered the previous record set in 1998 by a full degree. the report says data provides further evidence that human activity, especially the burning of fossil fuels is contributing to changes in the u.s. climate. and speaking of the climate, here's your "first look" at this morning's dish of scramble ed politics a conservative group is promoting january 19th as june appreciation day, calling on gun activists to rally around the support to bear arms.

the widow of medgar evers will deliver the invocation to president obama's inauguration. she will be the first woman and layperson to deliver an inaugural public prayer. the tea party may be fading. according to a new poll, only % say they are now tea party members compared to 24% in 2010. a different poll finds that congress has a 9% favorability rating. in that particular poll congress was less popular than cockroaches, traffic jams and root canal surgery. president obama will be staying at home tonight, but the entertainment will be coming to him. he will be joined by the cast of "1600 penn" to preview the new comedy. >> skip, i think it's time for you to come home from school. seven years of college is

plenty. >> i'm three credits shy of graduates. >> you said that last year. >> that makes it no less true. >> bill karins, good morning. >> that poll was pretty funny, the 9% congress. did you seat the approval for cockroaches? >> what was that? >> 45% cockroaches. >> oh, come on. >> interesting. makes it fun to talk about. good morning. here's how we're dealing weather-wise as you head out the door. we are getting drenched in texas. the green on the map shows you where it's raining. much of the state of texas is covered in rain. louisiana has had a lot of rain. it's spread through mississippi, tennessee, even oklahoma and arkansas has been wet. now some of these showers are trying to pop up through southern illinois and the ohio river. normally if we had a storm like this, we would be talking ice and snow, but it's so warm across the country, it's

literally all rain. a lot of the clouds will be filtering sunshine today. ohio valley, mid-atlantic and deep south, not as much sunshine as you saw yesterday. as far as the worst of the travel, flights will have significant delays out of dalls/ft. worth, san antonio and houston airports there. the dallas area already picked up about 2 1/2 inches of rain. a half inch in houston, san antonio a good deal of rain. texas has been in and out of the drought the last couple of years so they can use this rainfall. we'll deal with it, just a lot of soaking rain spreading into arkansas and louisiana. the forecast, we have the cool temperatures this morning in new england and the northern plains, even you will warm up this afternoon. a beautiful day, d.c. to new york. as i mentioned, a few more clouds out there. it looks like the rain will spread across the country. behind it, there's no cold air. it won't be until the weekend that we see that happening.

>> thank you very much. what's holding up tax returns? the debt ceiling fix that fits in your pocket, and the new year's dish that will break the bank. and could your favorite drink be making you feel lousy? you're watching "first look." my insurance rates are probably gonna double. but, dad, you've got... [ voice of dennis ] allstate. with accident forgiveness, they guarantee your rates won't go up just because of an accident. smart kid. [ voice of dennis ] indeed. are you in good hands? plus the perfecting color of a bb cream equal? introducing the newest beauty trend. total effects cc cream c for color. c for correction. [ female announcer ] fight 7 signs of aging flawlessly.

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welcome back. here are some other stories making news this morning. the united nations says about 1 million syrians are going hungry because of difficulties getting supplies into conflict zones. the u.n.'s world food program is handing out rations to about 1.5 million people in syria every month, but 1 million more are still in need. in australia, more than 130 fires are burning near sydney in new south wales. and authorities are warning of a catastrophic fire threat. more than 40 of the fires are burning out of control. temperatures may hit 109 degrees fahrenheit today. those extreme temperatures have forced australia's weather bureau to add new colors to its heat map. deep purple there, that's for temperatures from 122 to 125.6 degrees. and magenta is for temperatures up to 129.2.

wow. a new survey finds about 23% of women reported being on a diet in 2012 compared to 35% in 1992. that 12-point drop over 20 years may indicate that american women's attitudes and perceptions about weight are changing. yea! and the national cathedral in washington, d.c. is expected to announce today that it will start hosting same-sex weddings the decision came after same-gender weddings became legal in the district of columbia and neighboring maryland. a new study finds a link between soda and depression. people who drank soda or fruit drinks per day were more likely to be diagnosed with depression. on the other hand, coffee drinkers had a slightly lower risk of depression. now, over to wall street.

the dow closed at 113,328. the s&p fell 4 and the nasdaq lost 7. overseas, the nikkei gained 70 points while the hang seng rose 107. last night, alcoa delivered its unofficial first kickoff, shares were up in late trade after the company matched earnings estimates, thanks to improving global demands. the price of oil fell below $93 a barrel this morning on news that eurozone unemployment is at its highest level sense 1999. satellite tv provider dish network has made an unsolicited $5 billion bid for clearwire despite a deal the wireless network made to sell itself to sprint back in december. fisher-price and the u.s. government have announced a voluntary recall of 800,000 rock and play sleepers due to the risk of mold exposure. an ios video game based on the conflict in syria has been rejected by apple. it failed to pass apple's

restrictions on apps that solely target a specific race, culture or real government. early birds will have to wait for their tax returns this year. the irs announced it won't begin taking 2012 filings until january 30th. that's more than a week later than usual due to delays tied to the fiscal cliff deal. meanwhile, you may have heard about an idea getting some currency online that could solve the nation's fiscal cliff, the debt ceiling. the white house's decision to mint a $1 trillion coin has more than 6,000 signatures in the week since it launched. according to an expert, a coin worth 1 trillion bucks would be the size of a solid platinum 747 airplane. that's pretty heavy. on the other hand, if you want to go broke, one new york restaurant is offering a restaurant is offering a four-course meal at $2,013 it comes with two pounds of lobster, truffles, wine and a plate designed by johnny versace. if you're headed down under next month, the name underneath the golden arches won't be mcdonald's.

in honor of australia day, mcdonald's signs are changing to maccas, an aussie name for the chain. a bull on the loose gives a traffic cop the scare of a lifetime. and the painful reason why rex ryan is hoping mark sanchez is upping his game next season. ♪ or turn 30-million artifacts... ♪ into a high-tech masterpiece? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it.

. here's your "first look" at some other news going on around america. florida police officers looked more like rodeo clowns as they tried to haul in three bulls on interstate 75. the loose livestock trampled one officer after a traffic accident freed them from their trailer.

authorities captured two of the animals, but unfortunately one that ran off had to be put down. well, this next one is hard to watch, a brazen thief tossing an 80-year-old woman to the ground as she rips her purse away. dallas police released the video of the december robbery hoping for leads to the female suspect. more than $200 was stolen from the victim. a new jersey man's climb to the top of a hurricane-battered sandy roller coaster landed him in hot water. he unfurled a flag on the ride hoping to spotlight recovery efforts. police arrested him as soon as he came down. and finally, folks in las vegas are buzzing about a collection of gadgets expected to make life a whole lot easier. a new car app is among the highlights at the consumer electronics show. with the press of a button you can start up your vehicle and park it. i'd say that's worth paying for.

in sports, we start with disgraced cyclist lance armstrong. he'll talk with oprah winfrey about allegations of using performance-enhancing drugs in an interview airing january 17th. the "new york times" reported that he's considering to admitting to the use of those drugs, but his attorney is denying that. the doping charges led to him being stripped of his seven tour de france titles. in the nba, houston's james harden scored 31 points against the los angeles lakers frontcourt. and the rockets pulled away for a 125-112 victory. lakers point guard steve nash reached a milestone. 10,000 assists and counting. nash is only the fifth nba player to do that behind john stockton, magic johnson and marc jackson. in college basketball, duke retains its number one ranking as cook poured in a career high 25 points against clemson. the blue devils are off to one of their best starts with 15 wins and no losses. nice job. and a tale of two cities and

twin brothers as rob ryan was fired as defensive coordinator of the dallas cowboys. and in new york, the jets announced that his twin brother, rex ryan, will keep his job as head coach for now. and rex confirmed that he has a tattoo on his arm of his wife in a jets jersey with the number 6 quarterback mark sanchez. ryan said if sanchez doesn't play well next season, that number is changing. >> for another look of the weather, here is meteorologist bill karins. >> as a jets fan, it explains everything. the circus continues, right? >> indeed. >> the next one will be number 8 quarterback, fill the 6 in. let's talk about this incredible january thaw and how long it will last. today it's not feeling like a january thaw. some cold air has moved into northern new england it will be short-lived. albany gets back up to mid 40s. a lot of the snow is melting in a hurry in new england.

43 in buffalo. big cities along 95 easily in the 50s today. dallas, san antonio, new orleans, houston some rain. chilly in minneapolis, chicago looks nice today. new york city, look at this upcoming weekend. a little rain on friday, but saturday and sunday, temperatures in the mid to upper 50s. incredible stuff for this time of year. chicago, one of the examples of who will be warm, in the 40s and 50s. on sunday the cold air returns. middle of the country, saturday and sunday is your transition day back to winter. >> unbelievable, 50s on the weekend, that's great. just ahead, kim and kanye's new mansion, and which star did a bizarre lip-sync impression of justin bieber? plus "breaking dawn part 2" is up for big awards. but not the kind filmmakers would want. suddenly, she does something unexpected

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to celebrate his birthday, kim jong-un sent two pounds of candy to every child in the country. which explains why this morning honey boo boo applied for dual citizenship. i heard e is making a new reality show about ryan lochte. it is called what would ryan lochte do? everybody was like, swim. swim, right? miley cyrus tweeted a photo that may make taylor swift a little jealous. just days after taylor swift and harry stiles called it quits, miley snapped a cutout of him

in bed. miley's fiance may have to have a few words with that cutout. baby kimye is going to have a pretty swanky nursery as kim kardashian and kanye west have purchased an $11 million mansion in bellaire, the couple is planning on making the home bigger. >> so if it's a boy t will be the fresh prince of bellaire. james franco posted and then deleted a bizarre video of himself online dressed as justin bieber lip-synching to the song "boyfriend." take a look. ♪ i like to be, hey girl if i was your boyfriend ♪ >> okay. i don't know what that's about. speaking of bieber, the 18-year-old will be hosting and performing on "saturday night live" on february 9th. and finally, the 33rd annual razzie awards have announced their nominations. and the worst of the worse include "that's my boy" and "battleship." the biggest loser was "breaking dawn 2" with 11 nominations. i'm mara schiavocampo, this is "first look" on